Mary reiterated that parents continue to be the major literacy influence in a child's life. She named some programs that support families' involvement in a child's reading: Accelerated Reading Program, Grandparents for Reading, book clubs that provide families with regular access to books, the Take Home Reading Program (books in a bag, reading logs, etc.), and parent/family volunteers in classrooms. In her region she has a public meeting with parents to talk about different ways to encourage and promote literacy/reading and how parents can use these. There was general consensus that some work needs to be done on the relationship between home and school.

Reading specialists provide ongoing professional development for teachers, assist teachers with ongoing tracking and documentation of a child's literacy development, and suggest strategies and resources for teachers to use. Discussion ensued about whether reading specialists should be program focused or individual focused.

Margaret sees her role as a team leader in developing a plan around literacy development for her district. She says that each district needs to assess the current situation and determine where they need to go.

There was some discussion on what the universities are offering teachers for professional development in this area. A spirited discussion arose over problems and responsibilities in the area of literacy development and also over who is responsible for which problems. It was agreed that good relationships and general cooperation, as well as more reading specialists and program development, are needed to achieve a well rounded literacy program.

B2 -- Overcoming Barriers through Innovative Literacy Practices

Presenters: Barbara Marshall, Partners in Learning, Labrador Straits; Ed Wade, Educational Consultant/Literacy Coordinator, Froude Avenue Community Centre, St. John's; Gwen MaGuire, St. Theresa's School, St. John's.

Barbara Marshall spoke about some of the barriers people faced by being forced into ABE (Adult Basic Education) programs after the cod moratorium was announced: child care issues; older person homecare responsibilities; and bad experiences with former schooling. One of the students, Agnes Pike, realized that the teaching process being used was not for her and many others were like her. They discovered that even the use of the term "literacy" was a barrier, whereas if they asked people if they wanted to improve their reading and writing skills people were more open to it.

They opened a learning centre that was not just for people who had literacy issues but open to all of the community. They went into people's homes to talk about where they've come from, what their life experiences are and what they wanted from life.